2007-02-23 10:33:36 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Occam's Razor is there to remind us that if there is a simple explanation without inventing extraneous phenomena we cannot see or prove, then the simpler explanation should prevail. Unfortunately skeptics often use Occam's Razor improperly, as they deliberately ignore important data or objective observations because they do not yield the most mundane explanation. Or they come up with excessively complicated explanations for unusual phenomena in order to be able to stick with a simple overall explanation, and then they say "there -- Occam's Razor."
(Example: Someone has a near death experience and then they awaken to say they were hovering over their body, and they then correctly describe in great detail the complicated surgical procedure that doctors actually did to their body while they were "dead" on the table, and their story contains many details they could not possibly have had knowlege of. Skeptics then say "Well the person must have had the knowlege buried somewhere deep in their subconscious, from reading about the surgical procedure some time long ago in the past and they just can't remember reading it" Even though such a detailed description of the surgical procedure does not appear anywhere in any textbook, and certainly not in anything ever possibly read by the person. So the skeptics invent a complicated explanation that does not make logical sense in order to arrive at their "simple" pre-decided explanation that there is no such thing as an out-of-body experience. This is what I call Occam's Razor being used by idiots.)
So I would say I like Damocles' sword better, because it reminds us that we should not be ungrateful and wish for more than we have, because with great riches comes great peril. Life is never as easy as it may seem, even for those who seem to "have it easy." Unlike Occam's Razor, the Sword of Damocles always cuts the right way and is never misused in the wrong hands.
2007-02-23 11:18:48 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Occam razor!
2007-02-23 19:13:58 · answer #2 · answered by chefeclin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Occam's razor.
2007-02-23 20:22:01 · answer #3 · answered by shmux 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Occam's razor!
2007-02-23 18:55:39 · answer #4 · answered by Jenny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
KISS, (Keep It Simple, Stupid:) but "don't sit under the Damocles tree.."
2007-02-23 19:06:54 · answer #5 · answered by thvannus@verizon.net 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋